This application contains computer program listings attached as Appendix A and Appendix B. These appendices have been submitted on a single compact disc (in duplicate) which contains Appendix A in a filed named xe2x80x9c09955008.APPENDTXA.txtxe2x80x9d of size 29 KB created on May 8, 2003, and Appendix B in a file named xe2x80x9c09955008.APPENDIXB.txtxe2x80x9d of size 6 KB created on May 8, 2003. The material contained in each of these files is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention pertains generally to Internet services, and more particularly, to a system and method for allowing a user to select and download audio/visual tracks from the Internet and to record them directly onto a CD via a web browser for later retrieval.
The proliferation of the World Wide Web through the Internet has made available a wealth of information with nearly instantaneous access time. Much of the information available is in multimedia (i.e., audio and/or video) format, including music tracks and news reports. The multimedia content may be completely dynamic, being updated daily, hourly, or even broadcast live.
It is often convenient to capture a selection of various tracks available over the Internet on a local portable media for later playback. With the availability now of writable compact discs (CDs) and the massive user base of CD players already in use, it would be desirable to provide a system and method for allowing a user to select and download various audio/visual tracks from the Internet and to record them directly onto a CD for later retrieval.
Depending on the size and format of the multimedia track, the bandwidth of the user""s Internet connection, and the amount of traffic on the Internet at the time of download, the process required in visiting a service site, downloading a requested track, and listening to or watching the downloaded track may be time-consuming and/or inconvenient.
Accordingly, a need also exists for a system and method for selecting audio/video tracks from Internet multimedia service providers, automatically downloading the selected tracks, and writing the downloaded tracks to a CD for later retrieval by the user. It would also be convenient to provide a method for setting up a profile specifying the tracks and time desired, and having the CD created automatically without user intervention.
Apparatus for allowing a user to acquire and record information from the Internet may comprise a user interface that allows the user to identify at least one information service on the Internet that provides the desired information and to select a desired completion time. A scheduler operatively associated with the user interface calculates a launch time to allow the desired information from the information service to be downloaded and recorded in its entirety before the desired completion time. A recording dispatcher operatively associated with the scheduler and the user interface begins downloading at the launch time the desired information from the information service. A recorder operatively associated with the recording dispatcher records the desired information to a recording medium.
Also disclosed is a method for allowing a user to acquire and record information from the Internet that comprises the steps of: Retrieving a user profile that identifies at least one information service on the Internet the provides the desired information, the user profile also including a desired completion time; calculating a launch time to allow the desired information from the information service to be downloaded and recorded in its entirety before the desired completion time; initiating at the launch time the downloading of the desired information from the information service; and recording onto a storage medium the downloaded desired information from the information service.